The inaugural UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize was awarded posthumously to Dr. Peccei, who had died just two months before the Prize Selection Committee announced its decision to recognize the outstanding contribution the former industrialist had made to defend the environment.

Dr Peccei saw the urgency of the problems of man's relationship with nature and the dangers of the growing gulf between rich and poor. He had been a member of the boards of several of Italy's leading companies and in his new role turned the Club of Rome, which he had helped found, into one of the world's leading bodies promoting sustainable and fair development.

He gave tirelessly to the causes which he espoused, as a member of the UNESCO Panel of Counsellors on Major World Problems; a member of the Governing Council of the Society for International Development; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the International Training for Third World Countries; and as a member of the Friends of the Earth Advisory Council.